Pro-Life Problems In Michigan

I had the opportunity this morning to visit with one of our State Representatives here in Pure Michigan. Though he isn’t my particular district’s rep, he is a Christian man and wants abortion to end in our great state (his words). The meeting was scheduled by a friend of mine who invited me to participate, and I’m glad I was able to make it. Overall, I was pleased with the brief 30-minute interaction. For the sake of brevity, I want to highlight a few things:

Scared of DC

Just like many other states, there are different laws regarding abortion that offer restrictions on abortion, and there are some of those laws here in Michigan. I was told today that abortion is illegal in Michigan, however, because of Roe and the Not-Supreme Court, legislators can’t do much. (This isn’t true.) At any rate, yet again, we have politicians in office who are scared of D.C. Truthfully, D.C. is a scary place, but for different reasons.

Incremental Semantics

Incremental legislation is still the "narrative du jour." Basically, “pro-life” lobbyists are content with bills that shift the language around a bit, but do nothing to actually end the slaughter. “Personhood” bills, “Fetus is a human” bills, and so on and so forth. The language changes but that’s been the case for 44 years. Anything to placate the Christians.

Failure is Not an Option

One of the talking points I received after asking for a bill of total abolition was, “I’m not going to put forth something that I know will fail.” My reply was, “God wants obedience—magistrates who fear him per Psalm 2. The results are God’s.” So, because many people’s eschatological positions are “escape-ology,” we might as well not bother, because you know, the Titanic and all.

Say it with me: “Courts don’t make laws!”—@JasonGarwood #abortion #IgnoreRoe

Myself and a few other abolitionists are going to continue to press in on these state reps to see who might fear God more than men. Without a doubt, this is going to be a long road. But, Jesus is King, and numbers don’t matter, as they say.

Having said all that, I offer a few final thoughts:

God wants obedient men, not men who fear other men

For some reason, the federal government has been able to make the states feel like provinces in the Hunger Games. With intimidation, sanctions, and other threats, they’ve done a pretty good job at keeping the states filled with timidity. However, this ain’t gonna fly. God demands justice, and God also demands that just men do it. Who cares what the unelected Not-Supreme Court thinks, anyway? Courts don’t make laws. Say it again, “Courts don’t make laws!”

Republicans are compromised

Severely compromised. They are “pro-life,” and have just enough “pro” in them to keep the “life” part at bay. I heard it today, and I continue to hear it: “Just wait until Roe gets repealed.” It’s not gonna happen, folks. Republicans gave us Roe, and Republicans intend on keeping Roe. Which means we need a different play from the ‘ol Biblical playbook, and that’s called the Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates.

It’s sad to see the state of affairs as they currently are. So many pro-life Republican majority legislators…so many babies dead. Still.

Are we gonna fight, Church? Or just keep kicking the pro-life can down the street? Something’s gotta give—we have pro-life problems everywhere.

Rev. Jason M. Garwood (M.Div., Th.D.) serves as the teaching pastor at Cross & Crown Church in Northern Virginia, and is the author of Be Holy and The Fight for Joy. Jason and his wife Mary have three children.. He blogs at www.jasongarwood.com. Connect with him on Twitter: @jasongarwood.